Sean’s marriage resembles the Greeks’ belief that a man cannot escape from his fate. The movie does not go into detail, but Sean attempted to distance himself from his wife. His wife had left him when she was pregnant with their daughter. His actions to push his wife away fail. Throughout Mystic River, Sean’s wife calls him on the phone repeatedly. Each time she calls, she remains silent. Sean could have easily become irritated with her, but instead he works with her and gives her a second chance. He answers his wife’s calls each time she calls, no matter how preoccupied he is—even when he is dealing with the case of Katie’s murder. Eastwood shows this with the multiple phone calls. The audience also learns of Sean’s dedication to his wife when he says, “I can tell you’re in Manhattan by the way the traffic sounds”. He must talk to her frequently to know where she is. Fate is responsible for Sean’s sustained attraction to his wife. His actions emphasize this. He does not merely answer her calls. He tries to grieve and sympathize with her for whatever pushed her away. When Sean apologizes for what he did she finally speaks (which comes as a shock to the audience) and accepts his apology. She asks if he changed the locks. His response is another action that confirms the important role fate plays in their marriage. At the end of the movie, Sean reunites with his daughter and wife at the parade. Fate allows one man to gain a daughter despite a different man losing his daughter.
The one happy ending in this film was that of Sean and his wife finally reuniting. Eastwood's decision to wait until the final minutes of the film helps tie one loose end. Although he leaves the audience to answer the many questions he implemented throughout the film, this was one of the simpler questions to answer. This post helped me understand the fate concept the Greeks created because no matter how many days or months passed by, Sean ended up right back where he started: with his wife. But this time with a daughter as an addition.
ReplyDeleteJulia's interpretation of Sean's marriage and family issues helps me understand the concept of fate as portrayed by the Greeks and Eastwood. Sean's childhood haunting of Dave's rape causes commitment issues among his wife and himself. After Dave has been killed, Sean realizes he wants to live as a family and reconnects with his wife and daughter--an event caused by his fate. While Julia focuses on Sean, Dave and Jimmy also follow the path that fate has planned for them. Dave, murdered by one of his best friends as a wrongly accused, and Jimmy, loses his daughter and remains a free-man even though he has committed murder.
ReplyDeleteI love the image you connected Sean's life to! Sean encountered a lot in his life that he could not control and no matter how hard he tried, whatever was meant to happen was going to happen. Avoidance holds no power to fate.
ReplyDeleteUntil the final few seconds of movie, the audience was expecting a devastating ending, one in which the characters were doomed to live an unhappy life. However Sean's wife had called once again but spoke to her husband. The interaction brought out the spark they knew was still there, and the apologizes they both needed. AS Julia had mentioned, Sean could have given up on his silent wife but chose to wait for her. When she did finally return she brought along their daughter. Even though Sean had faced a multitude of misfortunes and made the wrong turn all too many times he still ends up in the place he was meant to be. Julia has picked Sean to write about and i had not thought to comment on him. Reading her post i was able to fully grasp the idea that fate is inevitable and is unavoidable. Sean had ended up in the exact spot he was meant to be.
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